How to make the best skipping stones
by CageVenom
Summary: Zuko and Katara have left on their magic carpet ride, leaving a slightly jealous Aang, a lovesick Sokka and Suki, and Toph to sit around waiting for them. Aang and Toph have lots of time to spare, and decide to spend it bonding over harmless fun, while Zuko and Katara have a much more adrenaline-fueled experience.
1. Prologue

Disclaimer: I do not own Avatar: The Last Airbender or any affiliated intellectual property. Amen.

"If you really wanna feel like old times again I could, uhh, chase you around a while and try to capture you again." Zuko jested, mustering his cheekiest face. It earned him an earnest laugh from everyone around the campfire. That is, everyone bar Katara, who had been silently stewing ever since they'd gathered for dinner.

She felt a bitter astonishment at how well Zuko was slowly creeping his way onto everyone's good side. A little happy trip with him was apparently all it took for them to drop their guard. How could they. If only they had experienced his betrayal first-hand, as she had back in the underground of Ba Sing Sei. In her eyes, Zuko's second chance was more than enough good will on her part, and any more would be dangerously naive. Fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice… Katara felt more confident in her sulking, the corners of her lips sinking deeper into a frown.

The orange flames dancing in the middle of the group seemed like the perfect metaphor for the boy among them. Such a bright and cozy flame, offering hope that Aang might yet master all of the elements. However, only Katara knew just how much those flames burned if one got too close. Zuko was nothing but trouble, and apparently it was her job to remain vigilant and protect everyone from his treason. When the time came, and Zuko cracked under the pressure, she would be expecting had informed him of this back when he'd joined them at the Air temple.

"Haa. Haa." Katara's unamused sarcastic laugh fell out of her mouth like ripe fruits of spite.

Ignoring her, Sokka raised his glass and said, still smiling "To Zuko. Who knew that after all those times he'd tried to snuff us out, today, he'd be our hero!" and everyone except Katara and Zuko joined the toast, the latter dropping his gaze. Aang and Toph threw one of his shoulders a friendly punch each, bringing out a thankful smile on Zuko's face.

"I'm touched. I don't deserve this," he thankfully said, looking around.

"Yeah, no kidding." came Katara's deadpan reply, cutting a hole through the pleasant atmosphere. Unable to bear her friends' insolence, she got up and hastily made for the nearby cliff.

"What's with her," she heard Sokka say just before she got out of earshot.

Zuko got up immediately after, answering the halfhearted question with a distraught "I wish I knew," before walking off after her.

"What's with him?" continued Sokka, not quite able to read the situation. He tried to think about it for a short moment, before his focus shifted back to Suki. Something about the long, dark shadows playfully weaving their way between the warm light of the campfire just screamed poetry to him.

Sokka felt excitement well up in the pit of his stomach. Though he tried to make it look effortless, he had to really try, to keep down a very silly grin as he got himself up off the floor. He discreetly shot a wink at Suki, before turning around and walking off while doing his best to look smug.

The third minute hadn't passed since Sokka's departure when a visibly flushed Suki started stumbling through a shabby list of excuses for herself. Aang's and Toph's knowing grins stunned her briefly. She, too, got up on her feet, and after mumbling an apology, took off.

Aang stared off into space, trying to wrap his head around Katara's attitude towards Zuko. It was very rare of her to be downright spiteful to someone, especially if it was someone who was on their side. Besides, Zuko was his teacher, just like her. From Aang's perspective, the arguing seemed pointless and unnecessary. He thought he knew Katara well, and having something unexpected like this go down tugged slightly at his heart.

"Don't worry about it, Twinkletoes."

At times like these, Toph could be counted upon to read his mind and put it at ease.

"Thanks." he answered honestly, then thought. Usually, he wouldn't really appreciate Toph's intervention, as it'd mean he'd have to just sink deeper into denial of his feelings for Katara. Now, though, he was so lost that anything tangible was good by his book, even if it was just a few reassuring words from his friend.

"What do you think, Toph… What's up with Katara?" started Aang out of the blue.

"Ech, she's just cranky as usual." she answered without hesitation.

Toph had the pleasure of meeting Katara's moody self before, and it had pitched a rough start for their relationship.

"But… that's not all." she then confessed.

"Remember how Katara and Zuko were stuck in that cave under the city?" how could he have forgotten?It took him such a long time to recover, and an even longer time to convince Katara that his memories were intact.

Toph continued: "Katara told me about how they'd talked in the cell. She even offered to heal the scar on his face before you and his uncle burst in. She didn't tell any of us straight away, and I didn't prod." She took a moment to consider whether or not telling Aang the rest was necessary.

She focused on her feet, feeling for her friend. His head hung somewhat low as he stared off into the space before him, the fire reflecting in his eyes. It took the black-haired girl a few more seconds to realize what had just happened. She had stopped in worry that she might hurt her friend by telling him those things. Undoubtedly something which she had learned from him. Toph found herself thinking it was ironic, in a way. She was the one who was supposed to be doing the teaching. It drew a small smile to her face. Toph felt thankful, and so she tried to express it. As soon as she opened her mouth, however, Aang spoke.

"Why did she never tell me?" his voice was hurt, with a tinge of anger. Toph's thanks got caught in her throat as her mind scrambled to understand what Aang was saying. She instinctively shifted her focus to her feet so that she could feel him. Aang's head turned to face her, his brows furrowed.

"Why did you never tell me?"

Having left her guard down, the doubt and accusation, which the Avatar's words carried, cut deep into Toph's feelings. She had to close her emotional shell again, and quickly, before Aang could further hurt her in his short fit of anger.

"Whatever. I'm going to ask her myself." Aang got up, and, fuming with jealous rage, stomped off towards the tents.

"What was Katara thinking?!" he forcefully strange feeling of anger, caused by the fact that he didn't understand Katara as well as he had imagined, was only growing. Growing steadily in his chest, clutching his lungs. Heal Zuko's scar. Aang held back a scoff. Images briefly popped into his mind, before fading off. The scar on Zuko's face. Katara, touching his face. Her gentle fingers, caringly caressing the damaged tissue, skillfully undoing the scar. Katara kissing Zuko...

The last one made Aang stop in his tracks, place his palm on his forehead, and sigh. What was he thinking? He trusted Katara above all, as his friend and companion. Besides, the danger of Zuko being drowned in her affection was, at the moment, far lesser than the danger of him being actually drowned. They would have to come to terms with one another somehow. Aang, now far more emotionally sober, decided that he ought to take a step back and let them figure it out. He saw the way Katara's friendliness towards other boys affected him, and he didn't want those feelings getting in the way. His firebending and waterbending teachers, though polar opposites in some respects, would have to make up and work together. If only there was a way for Zuko and Katara to iron out their dispute.

In the same breath, Katara trudged out of the nearby bush, pulling off an excellent "bane of team Avatar" expression. Zuko closely tailed her, also looking rather resolute. Aang was amazed at how on cue the duo waltzed in, but still upset about the whole ordeal.

The sarcasm button was pressed: "So now it's your turn to take a life-changing field trip with Zuko?" he droned. The duet offered an exactly matching pair of glares in response. "They have so much in common!" Aang thought to himself, before mentally taking a step back, and hearing them out. "I need to borrow Appa." she wasn't really asking. "Why?" came Aang's curious response.

"We're going to find the man who took my mother away from me." answered Katara unwaveringly. The feeling in Aang's chest returned. Katara's words raised questions, so many questions. Why was she like this, and what was she doing? Still, he steeled himself and looked Katara straight in the eye. He might not have understood her reasoning, but Aang still had to help her to the best of his abilities.

"Revenge does not lead to resolution, only to emptiness."

Katara refused the advice, along with any other attempts Aang made at changing her mind. Zuko mostly kept silent during the conversation, but at any time he did pitch in, he was always on Katara's side. Forgiving the man wouldn't be enough to give her the peace of mind she needed, and no amount of dusty airbender wisdom could convince her otherwise.

Realizing that this was going nowhere, Katara swiftly ended the conversation. "Fine, then. Good night." She turned on a dime and stomped off towards the tents, with Zuko again following suit. Aang allowed himself a few seconds of contempt, slowly steaming off the anger which had built up in him. He managed to calm down almost completely. The Avatar decided that some meditation in his tent was in order, for clearing his mind and sorting out his thoughts was top priority.

Aang awoke a few hours later in his tent, with a strange feeling that he'd forgotten something. He recounted the evening's events, everything from the campfire to the conversation he'd shared with Katara and Zuko, to the meditation before sleep. Then, he remembered. After he'd cleared his mind, Aang had finally realized that he must've hurt Toph. He wasn't quite sure why that was, but he did remember the sad expression she made as he'd stomped off last night. Before going to sleep, Aang had made a point to apologize and talk to her.

Deciding that it was as good a time as any, he stepped out of the tent and looked for hers. That's when he heard some rustling and whispering from Appa's direction. He rushed to the clearing, only to catch Zuko and Katara climbing onto the air bison's back.

"So you were just gonna take Appa anyway?!" Aang asked accusingly. Zuko's expression revealed that he was very done with it indeed, not even turning his head to face the airbender. Katara's blood was already boiling, and she couldn't help but feel provocated.

"Yes. I need this. And you can't stop us."

Sokka, having heard the commotion, joined the group. "What's going on?" he asked casually. Three pairs of angry eyes turned to him. Aang returned his gaze to Katara and carefully said:

"Just… Promise me you'll think this through. Revenge isn't what you're looking for." Katara's eyes told a different story. She simply turned around and barked "Yipp yipp!" causing Appa to take off.

"You know, your advice is pretty good!" Sokka commented. It alleviated Aang's discomfort a little.

"Usually I find it kinda annoying, but right now I totally agreed!" Sokka's positive effect was undone. Then, Aang remembered what he was going to do in the first place, and without a word, he took off towards Toph's tent.

A/N:

Sooo… Here we are. First things first; thanks a whole bunch for reading, and if you've got any comments, send 'em over, or if you notice any errors, it'd be awfully kind of you to point it out.

I'm gonna discuss this story a little here, so if you just wanna read the damn thing, I'd recommend you skip this. Much love.

Speaking of love, Taang gets far too little of that, as this cool guy MoonShadows717 pointed out. I need to get in a bit of writing (y'know, for the soul) and now we're here. Aang and Toph are excellent characters, and while the series' ending gives me the good kind of fuzzies, the little devil on my left shoulder can't help but feed me food for thought.

I just really want to experiment with the interplay between their personalities. Their reactions to their feelings and the way they decide to work it out seems so interesting. In fanfiction, you can usually see the outcome of the story in the tags and summary, so it's all about the journey. How much Deus ex machina do Toph and Aang need to fit together? How do their feelings affect the others?

This chapter was based (quite obviously) off the episode Southern Raiders, where Zuko and Katara take off to find and take revenge on that one guy. I thought it'd make for an interesting beginning, especially because a lot of loose ends might get swept away if Katara ends up forgiving Zuko a bit too much (hint hint).

Still, let's let the set up take us where it does, shall we? If you're still with me here, thanks a bunch. I'm open to adding interpretations like these at the end of a chapter. I'd rather have you (the reader) coming up with your own view, but if you'd like to compare it to mine, I'd love to add these, so that you'll be able to do that. Or just write me a review and I'll do my best to get back to you asap. So, if you wanna have some more longass ANs (these won't slow down or speed up the story writing, so no worries) just drop a comment saying so.

Anyway, love you, bye.

EDIT: Finally got around to breaking up some of the paragraphs to make it more legible. Thanks to Janet for guidance on that one, hope it's all better now. Next chapter is well on the way and should poke it's head out soon. 'Till then, my friends.


	2. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I view this space as an excellent place for what is my excuse for comedy, because let's face it, people who have rights to one of the most successful cartoon franchises probably don't post fanfiction. Would be cool, though. Come on, Michael, Bryan, the internet is ready! In summary, I don't own jack… T-rating. Heh.

Aang felt his irritation sour his mood. Like an ice cube melting, turning into a small pool, the feeling drenched his disposition for the day. He pursed his lips in a small pout while heading for Toph's tent. It was still rather early in the morning, so he was surprised to find it vacant.

"Then again, if Sokka's up, it's probably not that early..." reasoned Aang to himself.

He was still agitated, and thus, unable to be concerned. Instead, Toph's absence slightly annoyed him. Aang glanced at his surroundings to see if she was near and he had just missed her, but found no one. Their camp was nestled atop a small grass-coated peninsula. Large, dark rocks poked out of the ground at the cliffside. The treeline started where the peninsula connected to the mainland. A thick brush shielded the tree trunks from view, obscuring the inside of the forest.

The sun, about a finger's width above the horizon, was climbing up from the ocean, giving a glowing quality to the green color of the untamed nature, which meshed so well with the baby blue of the sky touching the treeline.

The sight didn't do a great job of lifting Aang's spirits. His eyes caught a small spot where the thick shrubbery at the edge of the forest had been spread open. He decided that he'd investigate it in a moment, after waiting for a bit, in case she just needed to do her business. In the meantime, he'd try to once again calm down, so that he could properly apologize.

In his opinion, the key to a successful apology was to truly empathize with the person. Understanding in what way you hurt them being just as important as knowing what not to do in the future. Aang didn't quite understand what he'd done, so he made a point to kindly ask her what exactly upset her last night.

The sun was about a second finger off of the line between the sky and the sea when Aang decided he'd go and check out the small break in the greenery. He found that the disturbed plants hid a trail of broken twigs and trampled grass in the shape of footsteps.

Aang followed the trail, skillfully dancing through the mess of roots and creepers which coated the forest floor like brown, wooden veins. The treeline was thick with the baroque shapes of bark and branches, though it looked thinner in the direction forwards and backwards from his perspective. He gathered that there must be some sort of clearing up ahead, and he made his way onwards. Taking what seemed like a very long time, Aang finally reached a small clearing where the soft earth and crunching leaves on green grass gave way to pebbles.

A small stream ran into the clearing from his left, a few good strides of sunbathing pebbles away from the treeline's shadow. The crystal clear water pooled in a medium-sized pond. The pond reached back to a wall of rock, where it was swallowed by a small, unseen cave. The mouth of said cave was at the bottom of the cliff, which hunkered over the surrounding trees in height.

Toph sat at the edge of the shade, on a large rock near the water. She was facing away from Aang, but had noticed his presence ever since he was about halfway through the forest. Toph had fallen back into thought, so his sudden greeting still slightly startled her.

"Uhm… Hi, Toph." Aang was reluctant, hoping that he wasn't too intrusive.

"Hi," she answered plainly, leaving him guessing about her mood and disposition.

Aang took a moment to brave himself for the coming conversation, before stepping into her bubble. Whenever Toph was alone, she'd erect what felt like an invisible barrier around herself, which had to be broken if one was to talk to her.

"I've been wanting to talk to you… and to apologize. For yesterday." Aang explained as he walked up and sat beside her. As soon as he finished, however, his ears sensed the small background noise surrounding them. The sound of the stream blended with the rustling of the forest, occasionally interrupted by a loud chirp of a bird. The serenity of the place was almost tangible. He immediately regretted cutting through it with his words, and settled for sitting in silence.

Quite a bit of water had ran past the spot they were sitting at, before Toph's answer came.

"Apology accepted, twinkle toes." She took another pause before asking: "You said you wanted to talk about something?"

Aang didn't turn to look at her, and instead mutely shook his head, sitting cross-legged on the pebbles a few steps away from her. The edge of the shadow was slowly crawling towards them as they sat in silence. Though they didn't say a word and the only noise were the sounds of the nature around them, it felt as if their conversation somehow continued. They shifted slightly in their spots every so often, silently enjoying each other's company.

So while it would've felt intrusive for Aang to say anything after Toph had first answered, this wasn't the case anymore after a while. As naturally as if he was answering the question she'd asked him what could've been five or fifteen minutes ago, he said:

"I'm worried about Katara."

This wasn't the whole truth. Aang was pretty confident in her and Zuko's ability to stay safe. He was instead worried about what they might do, and how that might affect them. Would Katara change as a person if she took revenge on her mother's murderer, and more importantly, would Aang view her differently with the blood on her hands?

Toph didn't answer, though not because she didn't want to, instead she didn't quite know how. On one hand, she wanted to belay his fears, but on the other, she was also worried about Katara. Sure, the waterbender was being her usual stubborn self, but there was that chance she might take it too far. This distrust in Katara not overstepping her own bounds in her vehement quest for vengeance was also partially based on the fact that Zuko, of all people, was accompanying her. And if Katara wanted to show someone she was being absolutely serious, it had to be Zuko, not to mention the fact that Aang, who had often been the tipping point in keeping with a sense of good morality, was now separated from Katara.

If there ever was a time where Katara's bad side could take over, this was it. Becoming self-aware of her whole train of thought, Toph was once again puzzled with herself.

"Why am I thinking about these things?"

Was she once again, just like last night, being considerate towards Aang, trying not to add to his worries, and if so, why? Was it because she had learned to be compassionate from him, or simply because they were close as friends? The latter topic again bloomed into a whole tree of unanswered questions. Perhaps the true reason she wasn't telling him wasn't because of the effect it would have on him, but because she didn't want to show weakness in being worried about someone else.

"Yeah, what if Zuko's speech patterns rub off on her!" Toph finally mustered, with noticeable nervousness in her sarcasm.

Aang managed an uncomfortable chuckle, now hugging his knees to his chest. Toph felt some frustration welling up in her chest. She was usually great with this sort of situation, dissolving thick, uncomfortable atmospheres with a quick witty comment. Staying as realistically grounded as possible was always the easiest way out an overly emotional situation. Toph narrowed her eyes in focus as her mind scrambled for a clever solution.

"Maybe they're learning a traditional Fire nation waltz of peace!" she victoriously exclaimed, alluding to the ancient dragon dance Aang and Zuko had had to master when they'd visited the Sun Warriors.

It came pretty close to nailing the coffin in terms of Aang's good mood. Imagining Zuko holding Katara close while they swayed to the music wasn't exactly the cue for his happy place - quite the opposite. Toph's confidence was undermined, seeing as she wasn't helping at all. Her stone bravado was crumbling, slowly exposing her, similarly to how she had opened a little the previous evening, except this time it was involuntary. By now, Toph was feeling uncomfortable and embarrassed.

Under the pressure of these feelings and the strangling silence, she blurted out a few words, which she only realized after hearing them come from her mouth.

"Would you also be worried about me?"

Aang's jaw hung loosely as he stared at her, periodically blinking, trying to wrap his mind around the question. He had several questions. Meanwhile, Toph felt the chills of embarrassment run up and down her spine, cringing with horror at what she'd said. It took a bit for the acute feeling to pass. Then, not fancying being eyed in the same way as Samurai Appa, she stood up and awkwardly stalked towards the path leading back to the camp. Aang snapped out of it to stop her.

"Wait, Toph, stop." She stopped at the edge of the shadow, still facing away.

Aang broke out in a cold sweat. Her face was hidden from view, and yet, he felt exposed. With another person, he might have established eye contact. Aang was always unconsciously relying on his eyes to relay the fact that he wasn't a threat for him. He would stare at a person's eyes and waited for them to relax. The problem was that he'd have to gauge the person's reaction and carefully balance his facial expression accordingly. This was clearly impossible if the person was facing away and could still see him easily.

"Do you know how to skip a stone?" he asked, avoiding her question.

"Yeah… Why'd you ask?" she answered unsurely.

"Would you teach me?" he suggested, a large grin smeared across his lips.

Toph felt the weight of the conversation roll off her shoulders, allowing her to take a deep breath. She closed her eyes for a split second, muttering a very silent thanks under her breath, before grinning and turning around to face the Avatar.

"Yeah. I'll teach you."

Even if he weren't able to see it, Aang would've still been able to hear the smile in her words. Aang was, however, quite able to see Toph's face as she turned around, the shadows withdrawing off of it as her skin practically glowed in the rich golden light of the sun, gently drawing out her features. A wind, cut down to a gentle gust by the thick treeline, took a few strands of her black hair, tickling her face. She raised her palm and pushed the hair from her cheeks. The scene before him struck Aang him as unexpectedly cute.

He quickly recovered and started looking around the floor for any good rock. His eyes fixed on a rock to his left. Not turning his gaze, Aang got up, took one stride toward and picked up the stone. Then, he playfully turned to Toph and said:

"This is what I can do so far."

He threw the stone at the water. It made a soft, satisfying splat as it rebounded off of the water's surface, allowing it to fly a few more feet. In the end, his throw produced two bounces before the stone sunk on the third. Three circles expanded from the places where the stone had touched the water, eventually crossing one another.

"Not bad," said Toph, the tone of her smile shifting slightly towards a devilish tone.

"But now, watch this." Her competitive spirit was unwaning.

She walked to the water's edge, then stood, her toes just barely getting licked by the cold pond. Toph raised her right foot and brought it down, causing a pebble to shoot upwards, it's flight abruptly stopped by her palm. Aang could swear he could see a wave go across the surface of the rock, changing its shape.

Toph leaned back on her right foot, raising the left off the floor, pulling her right arm back and balancing herself with her left hand extended forwards. She then threw herself into the throw, her right palm swinging around to her front in a flash. The stone hitting the water sounded like an energetic applause, Toph counted 27 bounces in total, while Aang lost count at eight. The rock crossed the pond and dug itself a palm's length into the stone wall on the other side.

Once again in the span of a few minutes, Toph had managed to shock Aang to his core. She had always been something of a mystery to him, but just how much did he know about her? He made a mental point to talk to her more. The mere thought of what kind of interesting things he could learn about his friend made him grin with delight.

"Accepting defeat with a smile on your face?" Toph challenged him, still facing away.

"Don't get too comfortable on your high chair." Aang answered immediately, resuming his survey of the shoreline for a proper skipping stone. He found another one, again assuming his throwing form, then forcefully chucked the rock at the pond. Again, it sunk on the third time it hit the water. Toph, by then, had a spearhead formation of seven stones gracefully jumping across the lake. They all reached the other side.

"Doesn't earthbending the stones defeat the whole point?" asked Aang. Toph's lips wrinkled into a smile, indicating that it was one of those questions she had always wanted to answer. "A person without arms might say the same thing about your hands." Then, she picked up a rock between her big toe and the others, holding her hands behind her back. Toph then forcefully spun around on the spot, crouching down with the foot she still had on the floor, then, going into the second revolution, she jumped up into the air and let go of the rock, landing in a crouching position.

The stone hastily hopped its way across the pond, but instead of digging itself into the rock wall, it bounced off, lingered in the air for a split second, and then fell into the water with a small but audible splash. Aang's proclamation of awe was cut short by Toph's somewhat condescending tone:

"Let's not get ahead of ourselves, though. You'll have to learn the basics first."

Aang, taking less than a second to go from amazed to eager, answered

"All right! I'm ready to receive your teachings, master!"

Toph defied his expectations by shaking her head

"No, Aang." to which he responded by raising his eyebrows.

"I want to teach you as you. I hate…" Aang noticed that her bravado quivered for a split second, as she swallowed somewhat unsurely, before she regained her confidence, continuing with the same voice.

"I hate how I don't know how to say everything that's on my mind, you know? People don't hear when my heartbeat changes…" she broke herself off by shaking her head again, then explained on.

"That's beside the point. It's not like you'll challenge Ozai to a stone-skipping duel, so I don't feel like I'm doing the world a favor by teaching you to do it. I, as Toph, will teach you, as Aang, because I feel like it." she finished, looking slightly pleased with herself, her eyes trained on his as if they could stare deep into them.

A smile had been rising on Aang's face as she spoke. The look she was now giving him struck a string inside of him. Now, as she instructed him on how to stand with slight impatience, the string of thought resonated, raising swirling wonderings like dust particles. The way she - for the lack of a better word - looked at him.

A thought hit him just then. It was obvious that anyone trying to connect to Toph through eye contact was destined for failure, but not many people took notice at just how many times one would instinctively seek solace in another person's eyes. Aang had only noticed it earlier, when she was standing with her back to him.

"How many times had people tried to convey their feelings to Toph through their eyes, only to have her miss them?" his mind asked.

Though someone might have acted normally towards her, despite her disability, they failed to understand her troubles because they weren't taking into account her uniqueness in that regard. Aang vowed that he would try to change. He would hear Toph's heartbeat change, because that's what a true friend would do.

"Hey, were you even listening?" Toph said.

Aang, who was still riding the high feeling of valor that came from his decision to be a better friend to her, didn't answer immediately. Instead, he stepped forward and gave Toph a short hug, before stepping back with a smile. It wasn't the sudden physical contact which left Toph slightly flustered, though. It was what Aang had said during their brief embrace.

"I'll hear it change."

A/N:  
Yes, I know, the cheese is real, I am deeply sorry. If ya find any foul-ups with the grammar and whatnot, drop me a note.

The original plan was to also switch to Katara and Zuko this chapter, but things got out of hand, and it took me this long to just do the Aang Toph part to my liking. That means that the more dramatic duet is getting some screen time next chapter (most likely).

Other than that, thanks for reading! See you, and have a wonderful day.


	3. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: Soo… What kind of music do you like?... (with a hint of pretentiousness) Heh, I'm not exactly great at making conversation… (after a few drawn out seconds of silence) Oukaay… This isn't going anywhere. Let's just say I don't own Avatar and call it a night, shall we?

"Ding dong!"

it was the sound of Katara's common sense returning to her upset mind. Now that she'd spent a couple of minutes soaring through the sky on Appa's back, her mind had cleared just a bit.

Last night, when the ever-helpful Zuko not-so-casually mentioned to her that he knew where her mother's killer might be, Katara felt a rush. Her blazing hatred had died to a simmering resentment a very long time ago, but yesterday, after what Zuko had disclosed, she would've expected the fires of spite to come back with a vengeance.

Instead, the candle flame of rancor she'd been keeping alight was still just that - nothing more than a tiny kindling light in the back of her heart. "This man murdered my beloved mother in cold blood." she kept telling herself, in an attempt to bring back the anger which she had once felt. Katara even felt a tinge of guilt when not even that would spark her up. What she did succeed in was making herself irritated.

So now, as she sat silently glaring ahead with her lips pressed tightly into a line and her arms crossed, it was Zuko's turn to have his second thoughts about the whole ordeal. First of all, he was absolutely certain that his uncle would disapprove of this plan. On the one hand, he wished he had the words to convince Katara and ease her mind, but on the other, he didn't want to do it like Aang would.

Throughout his time with the group, Zuko had noticed something oddly peculiar about the airbender's philosophy. It seemed obvious to him that Aang's outlook would be somewhere near, if not the polar opposite to that of the firelord, but in essence it was quite similar. Where Ozai would have you suppress your positive emotions, encourage your wish for power and promote strength over compassion, Aang would have you suppress your negative side, encourage you to be good natured to others and promote compassion over power. The values were different, but neither really considered people as they are.

However, both philosophies picked out the emotions they'd liked and painted the others as bad, even detrimental. Zuko, who had had his view of the world shift vastly seemed like the only one capable of comprehending not only the differences between Aang and Ozai, but also their similarities.

Aang wouldn't understand Katara's feelings of unabashed hate towards the man who killed her mother, so he would reach into his cookie jar of air geezer wisdom and pull out some quote another man had spent his whole life figuring out. It's not as if it was bad advice, but when someone is sneaking off to go on a manhunt, the firebender knew full well about how futile good advice was. Zuko mentally apologized to uncle Iroh, something which was like a habit to him now. He really wished he could do this right, get Katara on his side and finally make amends for his past. At this point, he cast a quick glance at the brown haired girl sitting on the flying bison's head. Even without looking at her face, he could tell she was annoyed. "But why does she have to be so difficult?" Zuko thought for a moment, before remembering he must've been exactly like that, probably worse. He couldn't help but break into a smile from the irony.

It had been a while since the landmass disappeared from behind them, and with it the clouds coddling the shoreline. They were now caught between two shades of blue which met in a flat line in every direction. The sun, about two palm widths above the horizon, and its reflection looked like the golden eyes of a lying giant. It only rose by two fingers or so, before the flat border between the sky and the ocean was disturbed by a dark dot to the northeast.

Zuko watched as the speck slowly, almost unnoticeably grew and transformed. He screwed up his eyes and shielded them from the sun with his palm, trying to identify what he was seeing. It appeared to be a small island. Thick greenery obscured the ground almost entirely. Zuko got up from his seat in Appa's spacious saddle and carefully moved towards Katara.

"Katara!" he said in a loud voice, the air whooshing by almost drowning it. Katara turned her head and looked over her shoulder, her face still sour.

"There's a small island there. Let's land and make plans. We should also eat before going any further."

"Why would I want to stop when I have a trail on my mother's murderer?" she answered matter-of-factly. This was to be expected. Where someone might roll their eyes, Zuko understood completely. He saw so much of his past self reflecting in the way Katara was acting.

"Because we don't have a plan at all. This is a fire nation raiding party we're chasing after. Multiple ships of trained soldiers…" Zuko took a moment to scrub any desperation that might've crept into his voice, then continued:

"We need to strike quickly, accurately and silently. That's our best shot at taking him out."

Katara somehow already knew that they'd be stopping to make a plan anyway. She didn't feel quite ready to face that man just yet, so Zuko's idea was a good excuse for her to buy some more time. Regardless, she couldn't show her weakness and hesitation to Zuko, so she'd tried to argue when he'd suggested it. Katara gave her best annoyed grunt of defeat, then steered Appa towards the small jungle island.

The two landed on a sandy beach snaking its way between the treeline and the azure ocean. A few turtle crabs were scuttling around a few jagged rocks which the ocean had bared. They dismounted Appa and wordlessly began to work towards breakfast. A sour memory from his childhood briefly overcame Zuko as he skewered two of the animals onto sticks and brought them to the pile of firewood which Katara had collected.

He lit the fire with a punching motion, then stuck the sticks in the sand so that the crabs hung over the flames. Zuko sat on a palm leaf next to Katara and looked at the ocean past the fire. If he lowered his head to his shoulders just right, it would look like the flames were coming up from the waterline.

"Well, then, master tactician, what is our strategy?" Katara inquired, careful that her growing discomfort wouldn't show through the cracks. Zuko turned towards her and took a good long stare at her face. Katara was afraid he'd see something in her expression which might give away the fact that she was having second thoughts.

It was still plainly obvious, and Zuko found her out immediately. He didn't mention it, however, and instead started his explanation as if nothing was off.

"We'll have to break into one of the scribe offices where they send out orders and receive reports."

"To find the name of the man…?" Katara asked, but trailed off.

"No. They always use ranks and code names in the military. We need to find the orders and reports about the Southern Raiders. That way we can find out where they are, as well as their fleet composition. Then, we can track down the correct boat, sneak on board and… well, the rest is up to you."

Katara sat silently and listened, impressed by Zuko's ability to formulate a plan. She found herself wondering about how he could be so systematic and rational, when essentially they were looking to murder someone. He seemed so serious and confident, where she was unsure of herself and indecisive.

The shell of one of the crabs opened with a crack. Zuko, feeling quite hungry, quickly got up and fetched them the food. The duo ate with a hunger, both quickly wolfing down their meal. Zuko looked up at Katara as she chewed the last bite. She had a speck of the meat stuck to her cheek. Not thinking much of it, Zuko flicked the chip off of her face, to which Katara responded by slowly turning towards him with a stare of mixed embarrassment and anger.

"Sorry, I just…" Zuko started politely.

"What are you thinking just touching people's faces?!" she barked. Zuko lost his temper.

"I was just trying to help! In what way did I wrong you? Why won't you…"

"Sorry." said Katara quietly, which shut Zuko down immediately.

She looked down at the sand, as the stress and anger inside of her slowly transmuted into sadness. Katara looked inside herself, where a conflagration of hate was supposed to be raging, only to find barren emptiness. No force of nature would put wind in her sails, and neither the fish nor the birds would care if her revenge was ever had, she knew that. It was her personal mission and she was ready for things getting in the way, but she'd never expected herself to be the obstacle.

Reliving the memories of the loss of her mother didn't make Katara angry, it made her sad. Somewhere deep down, Katara knew that this sadness served her mother's memory much better than spilt blood, but she wouldn't admit it now. She felt that admitting it would mean giving up on what had kept her going all of those years.

Zuko, sitting next to her, read her correctly. Again he wished for his uncle's wisdom, so that he could advise Katara. He would tell her about how the ashes of a fire long dead would never burn again. How misplaced her anger was in trying to exact revenge. Honor was a word deliberately misused by older people to make themselves feel better, and to manipulate young people into being angry at themselves. A word of ruthless, empty cowards like his father, who'd publicly harmed and shamed his son. A word for men like his late cousin, so that the horrors of war have a noble preface, and to stifle the outrage from the families of the victims.

And yet, here he was again, on a stupid quest to honor some stupid traditions. "Tradition," Zuko thought to himself "is the corpse of wisdom." He promised to himself that he would make Katara see. He wouldn't influence her actions or try to manipulate the outcome, damn if he cared about some old fart soldier, but he would make her see.

"Katara." Zuko started. No reaction.

"These ashes," he gestured towards the fire "they'll never burn again." to emphasize his point, Zuko flicked a flame of his own at the black pile. A few licks later and it was dead again. Zuko felt the nervousness brush up against him like the lazy wave of the ocean. He persisted, the feeling washed away, and then continued. "I've learned that rage isn't a good fuel, and there is no honorable reason for cruelty. I'll help you with your personal vendetta, but you have to keep your head cool. Think and consider your actions and their consequences. If you have any second thoughts, you need to tell me. They have to be sorted out before you do anything, keep in mind that one must always strike with purpose. I was in your shoes once, and I had someone willing to listen to me, but I declined and it backfired, that's the only reason why I'm saying all of this. I advise you make your peace before facing the man who took away your mother, ..." like Zuko had to, he thought to himself, "...because revenge is a dish best served cold."

Zuko's mouth was dry, but he was feeling better. He felt that it needed to be said, and now that it was, quite a weight was taken off of his shoulders.

Katara stood up and walked off towards Appa. She stopped a few steps past Zuko. "Thank you." she said, and continued walking. Zuko felt more relief washing over him.

 **A/N:** Ayy, welcome back. Thanks for reading my chapter, much obliged. If you spot any mishaps or grammatical bumps make sure to drop me a note, any criticism is also welcome.

Writing Zuko and Katara is quite a bit easier than Toph and Aang, in my opinion it goes to show that the creators were probably playing around with the Zutara idea at some point. See, because where Toph and Aang are rather well rounded characters, it's harder for an author to find massive exploits to use in bringing them together.

Zuko and Katara have many common points, they are more emotionally driven and impulsive. On one hand, Zuko was always looking for a character who could pin him down and show him they care. On the other, Katara seems like the kind of person who could fall head over heels about this mysterious enemy person.

I will say this again, I'm absolutely in favor of the Kataang ending the creators went with. I think it adds very important overtones to the whole story, especially where Aang has to choose love over power, it shows how important the emotional bond is. There are two issues, the first is that Katara's character growth through Aang feels just a little artificial, in the sense that Aang often only passes wisdom to her. Where she actually grows as a person (when she tries to solve the river village in the fire nation) it's usually not Aang, but rather the world which teaches her.

On the other hand, the way Aang chooses love over the control of his Avatar state has a dissonant presentation. Most times you'd figure that picking love would be the right choice and would lead to the Avatar receiving even greater power, or what have you. Instead, it felt like Aang was being a bonehead in insisting not to let go of Katara, and paid the price for being overly attached instead. I liked the philosophical angle, but it just seemed to chip the image of Aang and Katara together.

Anyway, that's just my thoughts, sorry for the longass rant. Bad Cage, bad. Write more story, not this. Much love, have a wonderful day.


	4. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: Would you say that ownership rights of Avatar: The Last Airbender would somehow be turned over to me, between chapters? I have no idea what you were expecting. (To be clear, they haven't.)

A stone flew out of Aang's hand. It hit the surface of the water and rebounded, making seven broad bounces, then a few short skips, before hitting the rock barrier on the other side of the lake.

"I think I've got the hang of it!" he announced, sounding rather pleased with himself.

He flashed Toph a grin that said all about his pride and thankfulness, and even though she couldn't see it, she could _feel_ it. It was as if, besides pulling back the corners of his mouth, Aang's smile created an air of cheeriness around him. As Toph stood and breathed, the air playfully surrounded her, instantly lifting her spirits even further.

Aang turned around and began concentrating on the stones again, and the air was dispelled. In that moment, a strange longing overcame the earthbender, as if something was being taken from her unrightfully. Aang threw again, the stone splashing away. In a moment of bitterness, Toph used her bending to pull it down about three quarters of the way across the lake.

"What was that, fourteen skips? Those are rookie numbers, Twinkletoes." she lectured as he started browsing for another stone.

"But I'm sure I had the hang of it. Must've been the wind, making waves, see I…"

Aang was cut short by Toph walking up to him, grabbing hold of the rock in his hand, trying to winch it out. The airbender didn't give, however, as he was pretty sure he was doing alright.

"You've got the... Aangle... all wrong-" Toph said with pauses while struggling, snorting at her own joke. Aang pulled the hand holding the stone towards himself, keeping his arm raised horizontally, so that he could push Toph away with his forearm and elbow. Toph followed the hand, stepping in front of Aang with her back to the pond, wrestling for the skipping stone.

Aang's hand suddenly shot out, as if he'd released the stone. Toph lost her balance and started to fall. Aang, not wanting her to fall in the water, tried to grab her by the wrist, but ended up tripping too. Splash! The two sat in the cold water of the pond, their surprised faces covered with droplets.

For a split second they sat still, and Toph was quite ready to apologize. Then, Aang started laughing. The earthbender was again struck by that same air as a moment earlier. The infectious laughter extended its tendrils and in a second she was laughing right back at him. How silly, she thought, how silly, yet how wonderful.

Aang stood up and started to move smoothly, rolling his arms forwards and backwards. Even without seeing him, she could identify the soft movements. It was waterbending. He was a good student, Toph acknowledged, a good listener, and before she had time to further appreciate her friend, a wave of water came rolling over her, pushing her a few steps back and soaking her to the bones.

She heard his devilish chuckle and smirked. A loud crack was then heard from somewhere below the lake's surface and Aang's laughter stopped, as the water practically disappeared from beneath them. A stone shield popped up behind Toph and Aang barely had the time to see her stick out her tongue, before a wave, twice his height, came swooping in, mercilessly knocking him back before pancaking him to the ground.

Aang sat up and rubbed the back of his head, wincing a bit, but still managing to flash a playful smile at Toph when she offered him her hand to help him stand up. Water ran from their clothes in little strings that broke into droplets a palm's length below their source in the fabric.

The airbender found himself noticing weird things, like the way Toph's hair, now messy and unkempt, clung to her face and the back of her neck. How the evening sun made a little shining star in the droplet hanging off of Toph's chin. He found himself wondering what it'd be like to pinch the fabric of her shirt and tug at it, letting air between it and her skin. He settled on pulling on his own shirt, enjoying the weird sensation.

"I don't know what Katara and Zuko are doing, but they can't be having this much fun." said Toph absent-mindedly. It unintentionally struck a chord very deep inside of Aang. The peaceful moment, as if it fell off of a cliff onto the jagged rocks below.

Aang felt darkness grow inside of him like a vile, throbbing thing. Jealousy. Skipping stones with Toph had been putting his mind off of it whenever they were together in the past two days. When he had been alone, however, he sunk deeper and deeper into the feeling. It bit and gnawed at his chest, leaving him breathless and shaking.

"I don't care what they're doing."

Aang was trying to sound nonchalant, but a hint of harshness made it past his best efforts. Realizing that he'd perhaps given himself away, he got up, not taking Toph's extended hand, turned on his heel and walked off towards the forest.

Toph was unable to say anything, struck with confusion. She watched the Avatar stomp off angrily, his posture slumped, palms balled into fists. Toph sat down on the spot, thinking about what had happened. Aang's reaction had caught her by surprise. She didn't know he'd gotten so caught up on what was happening.

Aang trudged through the forest, teeth clenched, eyes pressed down to a slit by his furrowed brows. His lips were tightly sealed in a deep frown and he took heavy breaths through his nose, barely holding back tears.

The figurative bubble that held these feeling at bay had burst, allowing it to pour out, eating into his veins, clenching his jaw. He was sinking.

Then came a voice in his mind, a brilliant white ray to trim back the tendrils making for his heart.

"Don't you trust Katara? She is her own person, and you should know better than to be so unrightfully suspicious."

His calm reason gave him hope. If she truly was the girl he loved so much, who he'd sacrificed his Avatar state for so willingly, she wouldn't do that to him. He loved her as the person she was, he trusted her to make the right decisions.

"How small of you to judge her for actions she hasn't committed, for you to claim ownership over her and question her reason. How petty."

Aang recognized the old wisdom of his forebearers, the other airbenders, who had carefully taught him not to be enslaved by his emotions. Yet, here he was, angrily plodding off to sulk, because the girl he loved was off on a quest for resolution about her mother's death. It truly put his feelings into perspective. Though it was human to be jealous, it was also faulty, and Aang, who had always tried his best to be a better person, decided to kick the feeling to the curb, smother it, so it would go away. When Zuko and Katara returned, he assured himself, his fears would be belayed and he could laugh, looking back at his silliness.

Feeling moderately embarrassed at his little outburst before Toph, Aang made his way to the camp. He spent the short remainder of the day in his tent, going to sleep early.

Toph stayed behind, feeling rather guilty. She hadn't meant to hurt Aang, she had only tried to comfort him in her own way. It also felt unfair that he became angry. Toph, on the brink of becoming upset herself, mentally put herself in Aang's shoes and calmed down. She knew he was insecure and needed to be understood and comforted, rather than confronted or dismissed.

Noticing her own thoughts again made her realize just how much Aang was rubbing off on her. She'd have otherwise called him an idiot and not given it a second thought, until it became a problem. However, she knew that, if Aang had treated her the same way as the others did, she'd still be living with her parents, sneaking out at night to participate in one-sided matches against a bunch of numb-headed brutes.

Toph got the feeling that Aang needed her most right now, since no one else was there and he was experiencing these emotions, likely for the first time ever. The past two days had been a blast and she would make sure that nothing happened to either Aang or the friendship they've been growing.

"Sorry, Twinkletoes."

She wasn't great at this. All her life, people never even tried to understand her, so she gladly returned the favor. Now that she would actually have to hear someone out, she felt her ever-present confidence wane significantly. Toph decided that she'd brave the conversation and set things as they should be.

Determination shone from her stride as she returned to the camp. The sun had already fallen, so she wolfed down an apple and went to bed.

In her dreams, Toph was comforting Aang about Katara. Tears were streaming down his face, and he seemed so helpless. They were in a cold place. Toph could hear the sounds of thunder above, but felt no raindrops on her skin. She kept telling Aang that it was okay.

He couldn't hear her. Despair gripped her chest. Helplessness, this time on her part. She had failed her friend, and he was now suffering. Aang embraced her weakly, and she could feel his tears soaking through the fabric on her shoulder. The storm raged and grew, but still no rain.

Then, it all stopped. She found herself at the edge of a grass field, where the meadow met the forest. She felt two people a good hundred steps ahead of her, at the center of the green grass, sitting together on a tree stump. The sun was warm and the grass was very soft beneath her feet.

It was Aang and Katara, sitting in an embrace. They seemed happy, their heartbeats more or less slow and relaxed, only speeding up every so often, when words she couldn't make out were exchanged. They were just out of earshot. She took a few steps forward, hoping they wouldn't notice her, but the sound didn't get any clearer. Toph's pace quickened.

No matter how much she approached them, the sound was still muffled and about the same distance away as before. Her senses were dull, and she felt confused. They seemed so happy, but something was so wrong. She started running as fast as she could, trying to yell and make noise, to get them to notice her, but to no avail. Crystals of icy terror spread their needles through her chest, slowing her down, making her movement hard and sluggish.

She tripped and fell, helpless, the voices only getting further and further out of reach, until nothing could be heard. Dead silence.

"Aang, I love you." came a voice she recognized as Katara's. It came from all directions, as if it was being spoken directly into her head. It was loud, but not painful, very crisp and clear.

"I love you, Katara." came Aang's voice, also loud and clear. Toph didn't understand why, but hearing this hurt. It was like a cold hand briefly squeezed her heart in her chest when she heard it.

Both of them repeated their words, and the feeling overcame Toph once more. She couldn't stand up, every time she tried, she'd stumble and fall. Movement was so hard. All there was were the voices, saying words she clearly understood and thought nothing wrong of. Why did they weigh so heavily on her chest? She couldn't stand Aang professing his feelings to Katara, it felt wrong to her. It suffocated her. It made her helpless. Why? What was it, again, which was wrong with the two being together?

It felt like there was a faint reason which she couldn't remember for the life of her. Then, she was back in the cold, with Aang now clinging to her, screaming "I love you!" over the thunder while the storm pelted their soaked bodies with raindrops. The words felt so warm inside of her this time. She wanted to hear them again. When she did, she smiled.

A/N:

It's finally here! Two weeks late, maybe, but we did it, yay. Hope you enjoyed, make sure to share your thoughts, they are carefully read and cherished. Have a fine day!


	5. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: This one still owns nothing!

It took Zuko and Katara a few hours to reach the island where the courier post was located. They landed on a small hill just outside of the Fire nation military encampment, hidden behind the line of thick woods. From there, the duo could keep tabs on the guards and patrols, as well as get a good idea about the layout of the place and finally, come up with an infiltration plan.

"The personnel of these small outposts usually remain unchanged. It's likely that everyone knows each other by name. This means that the strict routines that would otherwise be in place have been accommodated and are more lax. Our best bet is to wait for nightfall, find a hole in their defense line and get on the roofs for high ground. From there, we can maneuver freely and get to the messenger hawk cages."

Zuko pointed at a building with a big outdoor mansarde, covered with fabric roofing that was tied to wooden beams. Katara could barely make out big boxes below the waving red twill, the wooden houses for the hawks.

"From there, we enter the building and get the information we need and get out as fast as possible. It's far more important that we take as little time as possible. We'll use the air vents. If there's anyone still in the building, we distract them, or wait for them to move."

Katara couldn't do anything but nod in agreement. Sure, it was "her" personal mission, but she didn't have the vaguest idea about military operations. In situations like these, she would rely on her common sense and her gut feeling, but that would've never been enough in a situation such as this. She would've rushed in, gotten captured and hoped for the best. Getting in and out of that base seemed nigh impossible when she first set eyes on it, but Zuko's clever planning made her pretty confident in their ability to pull it off. Hours passed as the two discussed the details, drawing patrol paths in the dirt with sticks, observing and considering carefully.

The sun fell and the two were already in action, breaching the wall where the guard posts were few and far between. Zuko nimbly jumped and grabbed the top of the stone palisade, pulling himself up with the moon on his back. He crouched down on the fence, having a quick look around for anyone that might've spotted them. When he was sure that the coast was clear, he turned around and offered his extended hand to Katara. She noticed that he was calm and composed, despite also being rather alert and observant.

Katara felt excitement rush through her veins as she jumped up and grabbed Zuko's arm. The two locked hands, and as Katara slowly scaled the wall with her feet, Zuko was already going down on the other side, so that when Katara reached the top, he could quietly drop down to the ground.

Katara looked at the black shapes of the barracks, with the orange glow of lanterns breaking their shapes up like thin streams of lava. Not that she would ever admit it, but she was a little afraid. "The belly of the beast," crossed her mind, as Zuko gave her the all clear sign. In response, she jumped down and landed gracefully on the dust street.

Then, Katara's blood froze. Voices. Two, coming from around the corner. Zuko's hand grasped hers tightly, pulling her towards the nearest building. They huddled down next to the corner, listening intently. Zuko held her back with his hand to her chest. Katara felt her heart beating its way out of her ribcage, against Zuko's balled fist. She could hear it. Two men, clad in Fire Nation armor, walked past their hiding place. One of them had a torch, and the two of them were talking in a lively tone. The one without the torch was in the middle of telling his partner something about the letters he'd been receiving from his wife, how they grew ever more infrequent. Katara felt Zuko's muscles clench as he prepared himself to attack. Her lips pressed tightly together as she stood still, silently hoping that they wouldn't be noticed.

The soldier spat something about how he didn't want to be there and not being able to wait for his leave, as they rounded a corner and disappeared from sight. Katara felt a heavy weight lift off of her chest. Zuko relaxed, then turned to her and looked deep into her eyes.

"Are you alright?" he asked, with genuine concern.

Katara felt slightly insulted.

"Of course I'm alright. Why do you even ask?" she rebutted defensively.

Zuko said nothing, simply dropping his eyes to her chest, where she was clinging to his hand. Even in the dim moonlight, they both could see that her knuckles were white from the strength of her grip. The darkness did manage to hide her blush, though. Katara let go with an apologetic grumble.

He gave her a boost to the roof, and she pulled him up. Soon, the two were quietly running on the rooftops, jumping the gaps between the buildings easily. They reached the main building not long after, successfully dodging all the patrols. All according to plan.

Once they were below the red fabric roofing, sneaking between the birdcages, Zuko silently pointed at an air ventilation shaft. It had a metal grate covering it. The two screws holding it in place were completely rusted through, and it only took one strong push to remove the obstacle, allowing them both to crawl into the cramped vent. It was dark and hot. The thick air hadn't cleared out yet, and Zuko and Katara found themselves barely able to breathe as they pushed forward with great effort. It was even harder to remain silent, their breaths ragged, the crawlspace too tight. Grates at the bottom of the vents opened to the room below, spilling in golden light that cut like a blade through the thick dust worked up by the motion.

Katara led and Zuko followed as they snuck through the shaft, peeking through grates at the bottom to look into the rooms. It wasn't long before they happened upon a large room. It had rows of desks with writing supplies. There were scrolls of parchments littered on and around each desk, as well as ink pots and paintbrushes. Fire Nation scribes would sit here, copying messages and writing reports. The letters, which the messenger hawks carried, were the thin nerves connecting the large limbs of the nation's military might to its command on the isles. The courier posts weren't quite as important as the enormous communications' towers that the Fire Nation otherwise used, but were instead more localized.

There was one sole person sitting in the room, a young woman, writing something onto a scroll. Katara focused on the open inkwell the person was using, waiting for her to dip her brush into the ink. When she did, Katara bent the water in the ink and caused it to splash out all over the table and the woman's clothes. Cursing, the woman got up and walked out of the room. Zuko and Katara exited the vents, locked the door and began their search.

The walls of the writing room were lined with chests of small, rectangular drawers, each with their own markings. They quickly found what they were looking for - a scroll pertaining to the Southern Raiders' orders, which was only a few days old, but already marked as "processed".

The parchment said that the unit was to patrol the area around Whaletail island. The two silently stared at the little sea raven next to an island in the South Sea.

A sound snapped them out of their trance, the doorknob turned. The person whom Katara had spilled ink on was back.

"Locked?" the woman said in a surprised tone, heavy with confused exasperation. She shook the doorknob, as if trying to unstick it, then pulled on the door, to no avail.

"Just my luck." she finally sighed, and trudged off to find the spare key.

Katara and Zuko, who had been standing silently, trying not to give themselves away, waited until the footsteps died down, before putting everything back as it was and climbing into the vents. They hastily made their way out, the vents seeming even stuffier than they did on the way in. Zuko was the first to escape, slowly climbing out of the vent, leaning with his hands on his knees. He was breathing heavily, unable to muster the strength to help Katara as she got out.

They stood there, breathing in the fresh night air, occasionally coughing out dust. Their trouble was far from over though.

"Halt!" they heard a loud voice yell from the street below.

"Intruders! At the birdhouses!" quickly followed. Zuko grabbed Katara's hand and they ran, just as a plethora of bows sent arrows singing in their direction. They flew across the roofs as blasts of fire specked with black arrows and javelins tore past them. They were barely able to evade the attacks, zig-zagging as much as possible, sending shingles flying in all directions as the roofs beneath their feet were pelted with black steel.

They finally made it to the edge, a wide margin between the final buildings and the wall separating them from their escape. Zuko's hand, still tightly woven around Katara's, pulled her back to get a good run up. His muscles tensed as he prepared himself. Then, they exploded into action - one, two, three!

The two soared through the air. It was close, but they cleared the wall, Katara's toe only missing by a hair's width. They crashed to the floor and tumbled down a steep hill into the forest.

"We did it!" said Katara, only her hand poking out from a pile of leaves.

"We did it." agreed Zuko from the brambles. They managed to look at each other's face, eyes meeting in the faint moonlight.

Katara smiled, then chuckled. Zuko joined in. Soon, they were laughing uncontrollably, the mix of adrenaline and fear causing them to find the whole thing absolutely hilarious.

"They went this way!" they heard a voice yell, and their laughing stopped. Katara helped Zuko out of the thorns' embrace and they returned to Appa, armed with information.

A/N: Does this count as a cliffie? I doubt it counts as a cliffie. We will be returning to Zuko and Katara in the next chapter, I believe, as Aang slowly stews with sauce and seasoning over at the campsite. Cramming it all into one chapter would've taken way too long, maybe tiring to read as well.

I've decided to take liberties with the plot, where Zuko and Katara infiltrated a communications' tower in the series, I figured that Zuko would be smarter than that and pick a more exposed target.

Thanks a whole bunch for reading. What are your thoughts on the story? Did this chapter have you biting your nails with gripping action, or is my kinda yippiee ki-yay just not your cup of tea? Have a very nice day.


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